‘A true Ferrari rival? What is Gaydon smoking?’
JG: ‘|’m sorry, but |’m struggling to remain enthusiastic about Aston. |t’s tiring reading (and even writing) endless stories about Aston Martin’s glorious return to insertdaydream-criteria-here…’
BM: ‘| agree, and with hindsight more cynicism should have been applied to the Palmer-era hype. A submarine? Condos? Give us a break. But CAR was rightly critical in its 2020 story, Champagne taste, lemonade nd budget,
highlighting the ways in which “the Maranello of the Midlands” lags behind the real thing. |’m not here saying Aston is, or has ever been, a true Ferrari rival. But |’m saying it could be.’
JG: ‘A true dynamic rival to Ferrari? |’d like some of what Gaydon’s management is smoking – and an explanation of how it’s going to do it. The DBX, for example, is a fantastic SUV to drive – one of the best, in fact. But it felt tired to sit in the moment it was launched. On the tech front, if the Merc relationship is to continue, Aston must demand the latest stu, not what an E-Class had 15 years ago.’
BM: ‘Absolutely. The cars just haven’t been good enough. But | think Aston can be great for several reasons. First, it has some great people; designers Marek Reichman and Miles Nurnberger are a match for Flavio Manzoni’s Centro Stile, and Aston’s top table is now full of proven leaders. Just keep it simple and build true sports cars and supercars of such focus they can go up against the likes of the Roma and 296 GTB, with the astonishing Valkyrie – and your F1 car – as your flagship.’
JG: ‘|t just sounds like Lotus in the mid-2000s: over-promising to draw in investment, then underdelivering. Valkyrie’s taken years, and the Valhalla’s now a dierent car.’
BM: ‘Agreed. Focus: that’s what Aston needs. |t has that in F1 now; Fernando Alonso wouldn’t have it any other way. With any luck, Felisa and chums can bring it to the product plan.’
to be fulfilled – has been extended to the end of 2023.
Mercedes will honour all contracts and provide Aston with know-how and parts until the last of the remaining models (namely the Vantage and DBX, given the DBS has been culled and the DB11 isn’t far behind) retire by 2027, unless their lifecycles are extended. Anything beyond that, however, isn’t so secure, and Stroll is understood to be keen to explore various ways of delivering pace-setting fresh metal, including a striking all-new EV coupe and convertible that will be aimed squarely at Ferrari’s upcoming EV sports car.
The first, most obvious direction is to remain with Mercedes-Benz. Merc is busy developing the AMG.EA platform first seen with the Vision AMG concept – a mutant-looking, super-streamlined EV showcase of the future. Extending its co-operation agreement with Mercedes could allow Aston to riff on that new battery-electric platform, which is expected to feature the higher density batteries first seen in the EQXX concept as well as high-power e-motors.
Another avenue could be Lucid. Why? Because cooperating with the US start-up may well lead to a winwin scenario. Lucid’s Air saloon, and the Project Gravity SUV due in the next couple of years, are designed using state-of-the-art batteries and powertrain technologies for immense range numbers and high power. The original idea, conceived in late 2021, was for Lucid to cover the segment up to €200,000, while Aston would cater for the €225,000plus clientele and supercar buyers. Aston Martin has many strengths it could leverage in such a partnership, including its expertise in aluminium architectures, creating cars with head-turning design, exquisite craftsmanship and high levels of personalisation. The major strengths of Lucid are electrification and digitalisation, but the Americans need a network through which to sell their cars – something Aston, with more than 160 dealerships globally, has. In
ASTON |S DESPERATE FOR PACE SETT|NG FRESH METAL TO F|GHT FERRAR|’S EV SPORTS CAR
an ideal world, the brands should benefit from and motivate each other. Imagine for instance the Lucid Air 2.0 spawning the long-overdue next Lagonda, or the Lucid Gravity SUV sharing its genes with the DBX replacement.
Know-how and componentry could be jointly acquired from leading specialists like Multimatic (collaborators with Aston on the Valkyrie and Valhalla), ZF (EV hardware) and Bosch (systems engineering). It also makes sense given that the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund holds a 62 per cent stake in Lucid, as well as its stake in Aston Martin.
But these are all just ‘ifs’. None of the potential players big or small has yet come up with a compelling turnaround strategy, which is why the fate that awaits Aston Martin is still unclear. Maybe it will be part of a premium multi-brand automotive group. Maybe it’ll become a uniquely talented solo act, with ad hoc partnerships. Either way, becoming the new Ferrari remains the ambition.